Tucson Day 4: Raptor rapture

After a great quiche breakfast with Gaila, we departed for the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. It's more of an open air zoo than a museum, with an emphasis on natural environments for the animals. On the way we had a nice cell phone call with Mom. The weather was still much cooler--the high was 54° which was 20° below normal. The temperature will be about 69° tomorrow, much closer to what we expected.

We arrived at the AZ Sonora Desert Museum and everything was in bloom. We walked down to the Raptor Free Flight area with about 100+ kids and folks (it was Easter vacation). We secured a good viewing location near the front (which is another way of saying we played the “senior” card and pushed through the crowd).

Within a few minutes a trainer appeared in the brush before us. Soon a Great Horned Owl flew into the area. The trainer fed the owl and it flew from branch to branch--the area was not enclosed.

Next was a large black crow that flew directly over the crowd--no more than five feet above our heads.






Finally, a spectacular Ferruginous Hawk. Ferruginous means 'rusty color' and refers to the birds rufous colored wings and legs. It was a very impressive display.

After the show, we continued on the path and saw a grey fox, an ocelot, two bobcats and other indigenous animals, such as prairie dogs. Finally, in the Gift Shop we bought three small pine-needle baskets.

We had great seats next to 1st base in Section 107, Row 4. Unfortunately, Pennie’s former student, Adrian Gonzalez, was not playing that day.

We were late in getting to our seats--bottom of the first inning--because the concession stand had only one person manning the hot dog, brats and Italian sausage grill. It took him 9 minutes to serve 11 people.

Shawn Estes was starting for the Padres and quickly fell behind 4-0. We left after six chilly innings. We have better seats for tomorrow's game (Section 111, Row 5) against the White Sox and the weather will be 15° warmer.

After the game, we drove the Guadalajara Grill to retrieve our wedding cake. We brought it back to Alta Vista and shared a slice with Gaila. She placed the top layer in the freezer that we will take back home and store for our first anniversary.

The parking lot at Kingfisher Bar and Grill was nearly full--unusual for a Monday night, but a good indicator. We were seated in a side room that was much more quiet than the main room. After selecting our wine, we shared Kingfisher's signature "Warm Cabbage Salad" with bacon, Gorgonzola and spicy walnuts. It was unique and very good. For our entrees, we both ordered Roasted Sea Bass with a Chipotle BBQ sauce. The Chipotle added heat to the Sea Bass, but not too much. The servers were all very attentive and friendly. We didn't stay for the live music as we were looking forward to a quiet evening and a good night's rest.


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